Tag: NIMO

There has not been much change since yesterday in the number of wildland firefighters that are assisting with the recovery from Hurricane Sandy in the eastern United States. There are still 11 Incident Management Teams, 40 hand crews, and about 1,100 personnel that have been mobilized through the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise.

Some of the tasks they are working on include:

Operating a receiving and distribution center.

Using chain saws to clear debris off roads.

Supporting chain saw crews that are clearing roads.

Supporting a FEMA Community Relations Base Camp

Managing points of distribution.

Developing plan for debris removal.

Operating a mobilization center.

The photo of the Laguna Hotshots above came from their web site (which automatically plays country music when you visit the site). The other photos below were supplied by the National Incident Management Organization (NIMO). If you have photos of the crews in action, send us a copy.

Hotshots being briefed at a Logistical Staging Area in New YorkLogistical Staging Area in New YorkBill Hahnenberg (on the right), Incident Commander of the Portland NIMO IMTeam, planning debris removal with a NYC official

In recent months there has been a 75 percent turnover in the Incident Commander positions on the four National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Teams.

And in one respect there has been a 100 percent turnover temporarily, because Bob Houseman was not available to take his Phoenix NIMO team on their current assignment to Hurricane Sandy because he is teaching a class, so the acting IC on the Boise team, Kleinman, went with the Phoenix team to New York City.

Type 1 IMTs will be considered unavailable for a National assignment if the primary Incident Commander is unavailable or it is necessary to have more than two (2) substitutes to fill Command/General Staff positions. The Deputy Incident Commander may be allowed to take the team with Geographic Area Multi-Coordinating Group (GMAC) approval. An IMT that is not available for a National assignment will be listed as unavailable on the national rotation list.

The National Mobilization Guide appears to place NIMO and conventional Type 1 teams in the same category for most of the guidelines, so the above most likely applies to both types of teams. However we checked with Robin Cole, the US Forest Service NIMO manager, who said she had never heard of this rule. In fact, she said, they “…normally have 5 fully qualified Type 1 ICs and two Type 1 IC trainees. Since the teams don’t have a Deputy IC position those other qualified ICs get used as the back-up IC at times.”

It appears that there is turmoil in the ranks of the NIMO teams. The Boise team has been deactivated because the IC and Planning Section Chief positions are vacant. NIMO teams are very different from conventional Type 1 incident management teams which are comprised of individuals who only work with the team when it has been dispatched to an incident. These Type 1 teams usually respond with 30 to 50 people, or more.

NIMO teams only have seven positions and they work full-time on the team, even when they are not assigned to an incident. The positions are not only positions on a team, but they are jobs, filled much like any other job in the US Forest Service, which hires, pays, and manages the NIMO teams. If a person transfers out of a NIMO job, then that position is vacant on the team.

Usually a person in a position on a conventional team remains on the team at least until the end of the fire season, or until the end of a longer commitment. If their regular job changes through a promotion or a transfer, they usually stay on the team until the end of the season.

The web site for the NIMO teams has not been updated in a while. Ms. Cole told us that they don’t have direct access to edit or revise the site. They are working on moving it to a different address so that they will have more control.

It is interesting that none of the Incident Commanders listed on the web site for the four NIMO teams are participating in this incident. At least one of them, Steve Gage, has moved to another job. There is no way to tell when the web site was last updated. We are checking on this and will have more information later about the NIMO teams.

HERE is a link to a five-minute podcast Jennifer Jones, a Public Affairs Specialist with the USFS in Boise did yesterday with Steve Gage, the new Assistant Director for Operations with the USFS at NIFC, about using IMTeams and fire crews to help with hurricanes and other non-fire emergencies.

Since our report yesterday about the wildfire resources being sent to the east coast to assist with the recovery from the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, there has been an increase in the numbers heading east. Yesterday there were 2 Incident Management Teams and 7 crews or portions of crews being mobilized. Today 5 incident management teams and 11 wildfire suppression crews or portions of crews, for a total of more than 200 personnel, are ordered, staged in, or en route to New York, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. One of the IMTeams is a National Incident Management Organization, or NIMO team. (We need to come up with a better name for these teams. “National Incident Management Organization Team” is almost as bad a term as “fire for resource benefits”.)

The firefighters ordered, en route, staged, or on scene include:

Two interagency hotshot crews, one 20-person Type 2 wildfire suppression hand crew, one 10-person saw crew, and one short Type 2 incident management team (Pisarek) are staged at or en route to Republic Airport, Farmingdale, New York (Long Island). The IMTeam will be operating a supply depot.

Two 20-person Type 2 wildfire suppression handcrews are enroute to Washington, DC. A short Type 2 incident management team has been ordered for Washington, DC.

Three 20-person Type 2 wildfire suppression handcrews en route to Pennsylvania. A short Type 2 IMTeam has been ordered for Annville, Pennsylvania.

The Southwest National Incident Management Organization team (Houseman) has been sent to Lakehurst, New Jersey. Dan Kleinman will be the Incident Commander.

I expect that as responders switch from rescue to recovery and are able to gain access to the impacted areas through blocked roads to access the damage, there will be increasing demands for crews and perhaps IMTeams.

The Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park has burned 673 acres but received some rain and snow on Saturday. The fire is being managed by a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team.

The Fern Lake fire seven miles west of the town of Estes Park in northern Colorado is still reported to be 300 acres. Burning in high elevations between 8,000 and 10,000 feet it was subject to below freezing temperatures and high relative humidities Tuesday night. It may dry out Wednesday afternoon and aided by winds at 13-20 mph with gusts up to 30 and a relative humidity in the teens the fire activity may pick up.

It is located west of Morain Park in Rocky Mountain National Park and is burning in steep, rugged terrain. About 40 hikers and campers were evacuated from the area yesterday. No structures are currently threatened.

A Single Engine Air Tanker and a heavy helicopter are available to assist the 65 personnel and the seven fire engines at the scene.